{"id":58638,"date":"2014-02-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uris-finish-what-you-started-program-helps-returning-students-go-after-their-degrees-and-dreams\/"},"modified":"2014-02-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-02-11T00:00:00","slug":"uris-finish-what-you-started-program-helps-returning-students-go-after-their-degrees-and-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/02\/uris-finish-what-you-started-program-helps-returning-students-go-after-their-degrees-and-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Finish What You Started program helps returning students go after their degrees \u2013 and dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Feb. 11, 2014 \u2013 Desiree Nash was a hard working, competent, spirited sales associate for a major telephone company when a successful business executive was blunt with her one day.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cHe told me, \u2018Desiree, you are charming, and you have all this work experience. That will get your foot in the door, but you will never get a seat at the table unless you get a degree.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n


\nNash had attended the 溏心vlog免费B站 back in 1997, but left after one year to pursue other interests in Atlanta. Now she was paying for her decision to drop out: no diploma, no promotion.<\/p>\n


\n\tWithin days of that chat, Desiree picked up the phone and called 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Finish What You Started, an innovative, fast-growing program that is giving students like Nash a second chance.<\/p>\n


\nLast September, Nash started where she left off 17 years ago, only this time she was wiser, more focused, and eager to succeed. Since the fall, she\u2019s been taking classes at the Alan Shawn Feinstein campus in Providence to earn her Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, with a major in business institutions. She\u2019ll graduate in 2016.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI have an attainable goal,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s no stopping me.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe program is the idea of Dean Libutti, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s vice provost for enrollment management and a strong advocate for returning students. In 2011, the University reached out to a pilot group of 300 students who had left before completing their studies. Most had earned 75 credits toward the required 120 credits for a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n


\nThe response was overwhelming. As of Dec. 2013, 197 adults, ages 25 to 72, have enrolled in classes and 41 have graduated. Those are encouraging numbers in a state where an estimated 115,000 Rhode Islanders have started college, but never completed.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cFinish What You Started is amazing because it works,\u201d says Connie Pritchard, program coordinator. \u201cOne of the reasons it\u2019s so successful is that we establish a relationship with the students. We stay in touch and not just by email. We call, we talk.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe staff works closely with students on re-admission and once they\u2019re enrolled they receive full support to relieve any worries they might have about returning after a long absence. Staff helps with class registration, and mentors and tutors offer guidance.<\/p>\n


\nClasses are held on the Providence campus and 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s main campus in Kingston, as well as online. 溏心vlog免费B站 also offers courses, at reduced cost, during the winter J-term and summer. <\/p>\n


\nStudent support services are available on both campuses, and on the Providence campus tutoring and workshops are held every Saturday, complete with free babysitting for students with children. The workshops focus on both academic and life issues, from how to balance work and family to how to write a paper. For students looking to return to 溏心vlog免费B站 who owe prior balances, 溏心vlog免费B站 has even developed a \u201cmatching\u201d scholarship up to $500 to help students re-enroll in good financial standing.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe work hard identifying students\u2019 needs and match them up with resources, whether it\u2019s financial aid, academic advising or admissions help,\u201d says Pritchard. \u201cWe help students realize their goals \u2013 and dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPersonal accomplishment is not the only reason to earn a degree. Increasing the number of college graduates in the state \u2013 in essence, educating the work force \u2013 is crucial to revitalizing the state\u2019s fledgling economy.<\/p>\n


\n\tIt\u2019s no secret that college graduates also earn more money. According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the average lifetime earnings of a college graduate is $2.3 million, compared to $1.5 million for those with some college and no degree, and $1.3 million for high school graduates.<\/p>\n


\n\tWith the number of projected high school graduates on the decline, and a national government push to increase the number of college graduates by 7 million people by 2020, the population of those who started college but never completed is an important yet often overlooked group, says Libutti.<\/p>\n


\nThe program has been so successful it has evolved to help even more students, Libutti says. Now the program also works with students who did not attend 溏心vlog免费B站 initially, but want to finish their degrees. In a few instances, 溏心vlog免费B站 has even worked with students\u2019 prior institutions to help those students use 溏心vlog免费B站 classes to complete their degrees elsewhere.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cFinish What You Started is on to something very big and very necessary,\u201d says Libutti. \u201cReturning to college is not easy, but having advanced academic credentials and skill sets are essential in today\u2019s economy. Finish What You Started is good for individuals and their families, employers, Rhode Island, and our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nLibutti says employers, family members, legislators, and former teachers have all asked about the program, recognizing how important it is to educate Rhode Islanders in the 21st century. \u201cIt has truly become a statewide venture,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n


\nNash, now 34 and living in Providence, is grateful she\u2019s part of that statewide initiative. \u201cYou can\u2019t be a sales associate forever,\u201d she says. \u201cI got burned out. I wanted more from my life.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nPritchard and an adviser have guided Nash over the last six months, making sure her academic and personal needs are met. They plan to help her find a promising job internship in the spring.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIf I ever have a question about anything, there is someone I can ask,\u201d she says. \u201cStudents going back to school have been away for so long, and things have changed. It\u2019s great having so much support.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThat personal attention is one of the reasons Jeymys Rosari, 31, of Cranston, re-enrolled under the program. She first attended 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2006, but left after three years when \u201clife got in the way.\u201d Married with children, she had too much on her platter to make a serious commitment to school.<\/p>\n


\nAs the years passed, she realized she did not want to work in a cubicle for the rest of her life processing car loans in her entry-level, hourly job. On a whim, she searched the 溏心vlog免费B站 website for \u201cacademic advisers\u201d and Finish What You Started popped up. Within hours, she was on the phone with the other program coordinator, Nancy Rabidoux, who worked swiftly to sign her up.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI made the dean\u2019s list last semester,\u201d says Rosari, who also received a scholarship to help defray costs. \u201cI had straight A\u2019s. I\u2019m so motivated this time. I\u2019m so determined.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nDomingo Varella, of Cranston, was only about 30 credits short of his bachelor\u2019s at 溏心vlog免费B站 when he left to find a job so he could take care of his young daughter. He found work as a technician at the lottery company GTECH and as an aide in a group home for adults with mental challenges, but he always regretted never finishing his studies.<\/p>\n


\n\tWhen his daughter, Rae-Ann Roderick, graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 last spring, he knew he had to go back \u2013 for Roderick and his other two children, ages 5 and 8. \u201cI wanted to show my children that I never quit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n


\n\tLater this year, he\u2019ll graduate with a bachelor\u2019s degree in human development and, if all goes as planned, start a career as a counselor, possibly working with teenagers. With a fresh degree from 溏心vlog免费B站, he\u2019ll start a new life, at the tender age of 44.<\/p>\n


\nFor more information about Finish What You Started, call program coordinators Connie Pritchard at 401-277-0404 or Nancy Rabidoux at 401-874-2413. The program\u2019s website is Finish What You Started<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\nPhoto above: Desiree Nash and Domingo Varella, both students at the 溏心vlog免费B站 who re-enrolled under the Finish What You Started program. Photo by Michael Salerno.\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Feb. 11, 2014 \u2013 Desiree Nash was a hard working, competent, spirited sales associate for a major telephone company when a successful business executive was blunt with her one day. \u201cHe told me, \u2018Desiree, you are charming, and you have all this work experience. That will get your foot in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}